


Upon The Rocks

by thepizzasitter



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series), Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pocket Monsters: Sword & Shield | Pokemon Sword & Shield Versions
Genre: Anal Fingering, Anal Sex, Bottom Kibana | Raihan, Bouldering, Communication, Dirty Talk, Established Relationship, Fluff and Smut, Healthy Relationships, I will add some more tags later, M/M, Mountaineering, Mountains, Oral Sex, Pokemon Training, Porn With Plot, Porn with Feelings, Road Trips, Rock Climbing, Smut, Top Nezu | Piers, and feeling a lot of feelings, basically this fic is raihan and piers scaling a mountain to check on a dragon, they are so in love oh my god
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-11
Updated: 2020-10-21
Packaged: 2021-03-08 00:07:42
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,292
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26946433
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thepizzasitter/pseuds/thepizzasitter
Summary: “When do you feel it most?” He asked Piers on a whisper. The other came over to him, stepping into his arms and leaning against his chest.“Oh, I always feel Galar,” he answered, and for some reason it surprised Raihan just a bit. “Even in Wyndon, it’s just as strong. I think it’s the people, for me. It’s the loudest when I’m with all of you. Leon, Nessa, all of our friends really. Even those who aren’t originally from here. They all carry home around with them, and all I have to do is be nearby to sense it.”“And right now?”Piers looked up at him a moment before sighing softly and tangling their fingers together.“That’s fishin’ for compliments.”
Relationships: Kibana | Raihan/Nezu | Piers
Comments: 36
Kudos: 120





	1. A Dozen Meters More

**Author's Note:**

  * For [galaxyaesthetics](https://archiveofourown.org/users/galaxyaesthetics/gifts).



> DOUBLE BIRTHDAY CONTEEEEEEENT!!!!!! Happy birthday to Meta, a most treasured friend! Hope the day is full of laughter and yummy treats and you are treated with all the love and admiration you deserve every single day of the year!
> 
> This is a kbnz gift fic featuring Raihan and Piers on a mountain to check on a dragon that Raihan rehabilitated years ago. I always enjoy writing these two already together and beloved to each other. The freedom they bring each other never fails to take my breath away. Hope you enjoy!
> 
> A lot of the music I listened to is in [this playlist](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWObTfiovD8).
> 
> Feel free to come hang out with my on Twitter! My main/cosplay account is Shyloren and my NSFW Pokemon side account is CryptidPiers

Galar had all of roughly ten minutes to panic before Leon assured everyone that two gym leaders had not, in fact, gone missing, and he was so terribly sorry that they had neglected to make a public announcement about it and wasn’t it just so unlike Raihan not to make a post about his plans? That silly rival and friend of his, he’d forget his head were it not attached, and had he ever told the story about the time in their Uni days when—

/////

Raihan let out a whoop, nudging Flygon just a bit faster, gaining bit by bit on Piers as he and Obstagoon practically flew across the rugged terrain. Powerful claws tore through dirt and rock and grass, single-minded determination in both the Pokémon and his trainer’s eyes as they kept low, ever in tandem in a way that few could hope to achieve.

He and Flygon came up alongside them, and Raihan flashed a grin at the other.

“You’re gonna lose!” He crowed, and Piers stuck his tongue out at him, pressing closer to Obstagoon to keep them streamlined, giving them an extra boost that pulled them slightly ahead of Flygon’s snout.

“Keep talkin’ and you’ll—”

Raihan’s phone chirped in his pocket. Not even an hour into their time together and already someone was—

He groaned when he realized it was Leon’s ringtone, and Piers cackled as Raihan slowed Flygon, Obstagoon howling in excitement as they raced off ahead. Within seconds, they were barely a speck in the distance. It was rare that an Obstagoon would run on all fours, not often needing that kind of speed. But when they did, they were easily among the fastest Pokémon in the world.

Ah well, no great loss, he supposed, watching them go. The wager had been…he shivered in delight, thinking about the mischief in Piers’ expression. Either way, they both won.

“Leon, mate!” He answered jovially, distracting himself quickly. “To what do I owe the—”

“Raihan, you wanker!” Leon wailed in his ear, and he hurriedly pulled the phone away. “How could you do this to me? _Me_? After all we’ve been through you would actually throw me to the Lycanroc like that! What did I ever do to you?”

“Aside from a ten and none streak, calling me at two in the morning because you had some craving or another and got lost, that one time you stole my laundry by accident and thought it would be a good idea to give it back _on the pitch before a televised match_ , and ensuring that I’m about to walk up a mountain with a very sore arse?”

“I have apologized _so_ many times for the—wait, what was that last one?”

“That, dearest friend of mine, has to do with the ancient dragon mysticism of Nunya.”

“What’s Nunya?” And oh, but bless this beautiful idiot, he sounded so intrigued.

“Nunya business,” Raihan said, grinning when there was only silence for a long while on the other end.

“You suck,” Leon said, deadpan, and Raihan couldn’t help the shriek-laugh that escaped his throat at how put-out the former Champion sounded that he was not, in fact, going to learn about draconic mysticism.

“It’s a quality Piers admires in a man,” he shot back and Leon hissed angrily at him.

“Don’t bring Piers into this, I have no quarrel with him! He at least had the decency to let me know that the two of you were planning on heading out for a while, I just didn’t know when or where or _why_! You could have at least posted something about not being kidnapped! I just had to do an hour-long press conference because apparently since I was ‘already there’ I might as well answer a hundred questions about a thousand other irrelevant things I’m no longer a part of.”

Raihan did feel a twinge of guilt at that, knowing how much Leon had been enjoying the relative privacy not being Champion had afforded him.

“I _am_ sorry about that, mate,” he said softly. “I didn’t realize people would jump to those sorts of conclusions. I go to the mountains all the time. We all do, and they’ve never done that before.”

“It was you and Piers both at once. And with the pokenappings that only got resolved last month, I think everyone is still on edge.” Leon blew out a slow breath, and Raihan could practically see how he’d be massaging the side of his neck, an eternal tension spot between head and shoulder that had always held up the weight of Galar and its ambitions. “I’m not actually mad, you know.”

“I know,” Raihan said, smiling though Leon couldn’t see it.

“Just, please tell me you and Piers will be safe, whatever you’re doing, yeah?”

“Aw, Lee, it’s nothing dangerous, if that’s what you’re thinking. We’re…” Raihan was glad there were no cameras for miles around. The look on his face was probably _extremely_ gooey. “It’s time to check on one of the dragons I rehabilitated a long time ago. And Piers offered to come with, so of course I said yes.”

Leon made a noise of comprehension. “So this is like…a vacation?”

“I didn’t even know you knew that word.”

“Shut up, I know about vacations!”

“The fact remains you’ve never _been_ on one.”

“I have been on…hm, you know what? I don’t have to stand here and take this.”

Raihan howled. “Next time, you can come with us.”

“And have to hear the two of you going at it like Raboots? No thank you, I’d prefer to—wait, is that what you meant by going up the mountain with a—”

“I’ll catch you later, Lee! Don’t work too hard! Give everyone my love for me, ta!”

He hung up, snickering all the while, urging Flygon faster now that his hands and mind were free to do nothing but travel along the currents and enjoy the sun on his face.

His time in the Wilds had increased since Leon had been dethroned, though he knew it wouldn’t stay that way for long. He and the other gym leaders had upped their game since Gloria had become Champion, guarding her like knights to the Crown as she learned and trained with Leon on how to be an effective leader of the games.

_“I don’t think she really wants to be here,” Leon had told him privately. “Or hasn’t decided if she wants to be, anyways. Give her some time, will you? I don’t want any pressure on her in either direction.”_

Eventually, people would start training to match even the gym leaders at their best, and Raihan was looking forward to it. Sort of. Not really, but that was between him and the blank ceiling he stared at on the worst of nights. For now, however, he would enjoy the freedom to go where he pleased in the slow season.

His keen eyes alighted on Piers far off in the distance, already nearly to their stopping point. He was so looking forward to being able to focus on nothing but his work and the person he loved.

“Look who decided to show up!” Piers called when he was within shouting distance. “Somethin’, somethin’, you’re gonna lose?”

“Piss off!”

“Never! You’re stuck with me, I’m afraid!”

He had Flygon sweep low, jumping off to skid to a stop right in front of Piers, drawing his Pokémon into its ball over the singer’s shoulder.

Piers looked up at him, amusement and indulgence in his expression.

“Mm, would be almost impressive if I hadn’t been there for the times that fancy move has gone horribly, horribly wrong,” Piers said, reaching up to hold his face, stroking his cheeks and drawing him in for a kiss.

He smiled when Piers pulled away, reeling him right back in for another, more than a bit giddy the closer they got to being as far from the rest of Galar as they could get without boarding an aeroplane. “Still earned me a kiss, didn’t it?”

Piers brushed their lips together again and again, peppering his jaw with them as well, until he leaned his forehead against Raihan’s chest.

“As if you don’t earn them by just existin’,” he mumbled, and _fuck_ , how many times was his heart going to melt today?

“A bit of mercy, will you?” He said, voice low, pulling Piers in tight by the waist. “At least till we stop to make camp. It’s already going to be difficult enough having to climb behind you when your arse is within pinching distance.”

Piers burst out laughing, slapping his shoulder. “If I feel so much as an _intention_ while I’m tryin’ to focus on not dyin’—”

Raihan smiled innocently.

“Horrible, you absolute pervert. Keep your hands to yourself.”

“No promises!”

/////

There was nothing better than this, trading quips back and forth, Piers’ arm looped in his as they walked the rest of the way to where Raihan could begin tracking. Eventually it gave way into talk of other things. Marnie and the fashion line she and Nessa were collaborating on, Gordie’s latest video game obsession, Milo’s Greedent problem in his garden, any number of topics they eased in an out of as they went.

And then…

“Do you think we’ll move here when you retire?” Piers asked, shading his eyes with his hand as he looked up at the cliffsides they passed. “Or will you want to still be in a city?”

His heart hammered in his chest.

_We’ll move_ , he thought, his mind stuttering over the words. _We’ll move, we’ll move. The two of us, together. We’ll move. When I retire there will still be us. Moving. Somewhere together._

He wasn’t certain what kind of sound would emerge from his throat if he opened his mouth.

_I don’t care_ , he wanted to say. _I don’t give a fuck where we go if there’s still an ‘us’. What is home if it’s not you?_

“On the one hand, I’m fairly certain you would die without proper internet connection,” Piers went on, unaware of the stir he had just caused. “But maybe they’ll have figured that one out by the time we actually need to think about it.”

“Yeah, still a long way off,” he heard himself say, glad when Piers was distracted by a Skwovet who had been following them, a hopeful look in its eye. He’d need time to keep processing the warmth that was spreading through him. He hadn’t realized Piers was thinking like that about them.

Somewhere, in the back of his mind, he supposed, he’d always assumed—and feared—that someday Piers would find something he wanted more than this. More than Spikemuth. More than Galar, even.

More than him.

He took Piers’ hand instead of his arm when he had finished fishing out a berry for a now very happy Skwovet, kissing the back of it before they moved on, and wondered if maybe he had been wrong the whole time.

He considered the thought until he spotted their trail, hidden to most but obvious to him. He steered them in that direction, unable to stop grinning when Piers’ brow quirked at the sight of the small cave he revealed through a curtain of hanging vines.

“And here I put all this sunscreen on and we were just goin’ to go through the caves this whole time?”

“You’d need that sunscreen for the thirty seconds of walking to a taxi, let’s be real.”

Piers shot him an unimpressed look. “You just wanted to put your hands on me, didn’t you.” It wasn’t remotely a question, and Raihan stuck his tongue out impishly.

“To be fair, we’ll be out of the caves before sunset, so it’ll still come in handy.”

Their flashlights were only needed for a short while before the natural glow of various indigenous Pokémon species lit up the stone and natural springs with an eerie, beautiful glow that cast jagged shadows along the walls.

They quieted on their own, neither certain why it was important to keep the stillness, only that it made sense for some reason as they walked together into the heart of Galar’s wilds. Its pulse was alive and well under their feet, and Raihan stopped to lean against an outcropping of rocks, the thrum of it beloved and comforting to him.

“When do you feel it most?” He asked Piers on a whisper. The other came over to him, stepping into his arms and leaning against his chest.

“Oh, I always feel Galar,” he answered, and for some reason it surprised Raihan just a bit. “Even in Wyndon, it’s just as strong. I think it’s the people, for me. It’s the loudest when I’m with all of you. Leon, Nessa, all of our friends really. Even those who aren’t originally from here. They all carry home around with them, and all I have to do is be nearby to sense it.”

“And right now?”

Piers looked up at him a moment before sighing softly and tangling their fingers together.

“That’s fishin’ for compliments.”

It might have been. Raihan shrugged unapologetically.

“You know I do,” Piers said, voice far more reverent than Raihan was prepared for. “It’s in the shadows and underneath us and even that’s drowned out by how easy it is to feel when you’re holdin’ me.”

Raihan swallowed hard. “That was a better catch than I expected.”

“Mm, must be the pretty bait,” Piers said, going up on his toes to kiss Raihan’s cheek. “Now c’mon, we keep gettin’ distracted.”

Raihan certainly wasn’t going to apologize for that either, not when he felt like he could practically float the rest of the way up the mountain.

/////

Floating was not the word he would use when they were both climbing a straight shot up the side of a cliff, their gear the only thing between them and falling into the ravine below. He could hear Piers just ahead, breathing hard as he tried to figure out which rock he ought to grab next.

“You alright up there?” Raihan called, unconcerned when all he received was a grunt of affirmation and a muttered curse about not being built for bouldering in any capacity. “You’re doing great, sweetheart.”

He was starting to get fatigued as well, impressed that Piers had made it this far. He’d been prepared to carry him on his back through certain parts of the journey, but Piers hadn’t yet showed any signs of needing his aid.

Piers hissed another string of curses before he finally managed to heave himself up to the next ledge.

“Fuck! Fuckin’ hate—” He couldn’t get the next words out, needing to save his air this high up.

Raihan chucked and clambered onto the same ledge, squeezing onto the tiny space while they rested a moment.

“Only a few dozen meters left,” he encouraged, using his sleeve to wipe away the sweat trickling along the side of Piers’ face.

“That’s what you said a few dozen meters ago,” the singer groaned, dropping his forehead to Raihan’s shoulder. “M’gonna die here, I just know it.”

“I keep offering to—”

“Like hell am I not grabbing onto _somethin'_ while we climb. I’ll just panic and kill us both.”

“Piers, trust me on this one, yeah? I would never do anything to put you in harm’s way. I promise it’ll be okay. You’ll be strapped to me and you’ll still be hanging on. Don’t look and I’ll get us to the top as quick as I can.”

Piers glanced down for a moment, eyeing the fall before Raihan reached out to cup his face, turning it upwards.

“No, not down there. Up there. See that stone jutting out a bit? That’s where it plateaus. First stopping point, and we’ll do the rest tomorrow. We’ll be able to eat something and sleep.” He knew it was a longshot that he’d be allowed to carry him, but he kept his voice neutral, letting Piers decide what felt safest.

There was a long pause in which Raihan wondered if Piers wasn’t going to answer at all before finally he sighed and gripped his hand.

“Fine, then. M’freakin’ myself out just sittin’ here. Gotta get movin’ or I’ll panic.”

“Come here,” Raihan said, grateful for the trust he was being shown. He wouldn’t let it go to waste. He kneeled against the wall, reaching back to help Piers shuffle close against him so he could start tying them together, resolutely not thinking about this position in another context.

“Alright, arms around me and keep your legs tucked up at my sides. Might scrape your knees a bit, but it’ll be over quickly.”

Piers pressed his face between his shoulders and nodded, holding on tight while Raihan stood, testing their weight together—he had always marveled at how light Piers was—before he let go of all else and just focused.

He loved these mountains, loved the thrill of the climb and what awaited them at the top. He scaled the side like he was born to it, feeling the wind try to move him and not yielding to its insistence.

Claws and tail and horns and fire. Weightless here, where his spirit had been born. Just a few mountains away, he’d met Duraludon. Scraped through an impossible situation and come out the other side with a friend in battle who had never once let him down.

A thousand memories of his love for Galar rested here, in these stones.

Every mountain he had ever set foot on took a piece of him, replacing it with something newer, better, more ready for the next climb.

He pulled them onto the plateau, feeling awake and alive and unstoppable in a way he never did when he was anywhere else. Piers still clung to him as he untied them, taking in short, shaky breaths while Raihan held him and rocked him slowly, petting his hair and whispering how proud he was.

“Who’d have thought?” He teased softly. “Fun fact, Leon didn’t make it that far the first time we climbed together.”

“You’re havin’ me on.”

“I mean, we were like, twelve but _still_.”

The breathless, relieved laughter was exactly what he’d been going for, and he joined in, pulling them both to their feet.

“Good to know my athleticism slightly outranks a twelve-year-old. This information was direly needed.”

“You know, most people train hard for this and never make it that far. I thought I was going to have to carry you most of the way.”

The look of surprise was endearing. Piers was stronger than he knew, and that was true in many ways.

“I didn’t know it was even an option,” he said, and that was also true of Piers’ life at large. In all the time Raihan had known him, he could think of very few instances where Piers didn’t encounter a problem and simply put his head down and get through it. Had Raihan not offered his help, he had no doubt Piers would have worked himself back down from his fear and gone the rest of the way himself.

It didn’t change the fact that he liked this outcome a lot more.


	2. Keep Climbing

Piers awoke with Raihan’s body curved around his in their sleep, an arm slung over his side to ward off the morning chill. He shivered and scooted more firmly against him until every inch of his back was covered, sighing happily when it made the dragon trainer mumble and wrap both arms around him.

He had been craving this sort of closeness for weeks. The thought was one worth smiling over. He’d been so afraid in the beginning of how much Raihan wanted to be around him. How much he had wanted the same, fearing for his independence and sense of self because of it.

He needn’t have. Raihan had never once sought to change him, to blunt his edges or keep him from being exactly who he was, whatever that might look like. He switched to his other side, putting his arms around Raihan in turn, pressing his face to his chest and throwing a leg over him, wanting to be as close as possible.

“Cold,” Raihan murmured, jolting slightly and still mostly asleep when Piers’ nose brushed along warm skin, trying to warm his face up. “Mm, hi babe.”

Piers nearly laughed at how incoherent it sounded, opting instead to kiss him on the chin.

“You can keep sleepin’,” he said, keeping his voice low and quiet. “S’not time to get up yet.”

“M’kay,” Raihan sighed, pulling Piers on top of him like an additional blanket before he was out again within seconds.

 _Cute_ , he thought, running his thumbs along the corners of the other’s eyes.

He spent the early hours of the morning tracing fingertips along the beloved form under him. Easy circuits. Learning and un-learning and re-learning, thinking about how grateful he was that the heart beating below his cheek had decided to include him in its halls.

 _I’ll stay there as long as you let me._ There were so few places he was wanted, but what did it matter when the place that liked having him around was also the place he wanted to be? _Mine isn’t as nice as yours. Been through the wringer a time or two. But you’re welcome to it._

When Raihan finally started stirring on his own, he aided his journey back out of dreams with kisses along his neck, his collarbones, his jaw. Strong hands held his waist, accompanied by a deep rumble of contentment that felt like the mountains themselves.

“My turn for cookin’ today,” Piers said, rocking slightly against him, wanting to make him feel good. “You did last night.”

“Could just eat you up instead,” Raihan said, eyes still closed and a smile on his face. “Keep doing that and I won’t let you out of the tent.”

“Or off the one you’re pitchin’?”

Raihan snickered, blearily opening his eyes and blinking against the light creeping in.

“Can I cash in on the bet, or are you going to make me wait?”

It was beyond tempting, but Piers was going to need the extra motivation if he was going to be doing anymore climbing today. And Raihan was much further along than he was, having just woken up.

“Hm, compromise, I think,” he said, sliding down Raihan’s body until he could drag his shorts down, just enough to free his cock. “Gonna eat _you_ up instead.”

“I have questions as to the nutritional val— _oh fuck!_ ”

Piers prided himself on Raihan having no words past that point.

/////

Piers tired much more quickly than he had the day prior, unused to the sheer amount of work his upper body was doing. He’d expected teasing. Little harmless quips about joining the lads at the gym every so often.

It wouldn’t have bothered him and yet the lack of it, for some reason he couldn’t quite pinpoint, made his heart sing in his chest.

When Raihan offered this time, he didn’t hesitate.

He glanced over his shoulder to see out over the canyon as Raihan climbed for the both of them, practically vibrating with the chance to show off, to impress Piers, as if he needed impressing.

“Do you ever just ride Flygon all the way up?”

“I did once, but I prefer this.” He hardly sounded winded, the bastard. “It was an emergency that required I be there as quickly as possible. I’m a fast climber, but nothing can beat flying time. Someone had brought in a pair of illegal Salamence to try and start an invasive population, but one got loose and it didn’t go well.”

“Were you able to stop it?”

Piers could practically feel the sadness that washed over Raihan, and he held on just a bit tighter.

It _really_ hadn’t gone well, then.

“I was able to catch it, but they…”

He didn’t say anything else, but Piers suddenly remembered when Galar’s news stations had been riddled with stories of the new Hammerlocke gym leader presenting before Parliament. A lad of barely sixteen, already more studied than most of them could ever hope to be. Determined and relentless and full of rage that Piers had understood long before they had ever met.

“Is that why the laws concernin’ dealin’ with foreign species are non-lethal now?”

Raihan nodded, and Piers kissed his shoulder softly, stilling the other for a moment. The wind was gentle on them, the sun at their back while Raihan silently grieved, leaning his forehead against the stone.

It suddenly dawned on him why Raihan had said he needed his expertise before they left.

“The dragon we’re goin’ to see is a Hydreigon, isn’t it?”

It was barely a question.

Raihan’s silence was answer enough.

“I love you,” Piers whispered, unable to stop the words even if he’d wanted to. This incredible lover of his… “They’re not native to Galar either.”

The way Raihan came to life at the acceptance in his voice made his soul ache.

“Similar situation, different outcome.” He started climbing again, and Piers suddenly realized Raihan had been holding his breath when it all came out in a shaky exhale on the words. “The dragon population was dwindling faster than we could manage, so I petitioned for the right to include the Deino line in Galar’s official registry. They’re gentle dragons, despite their appearance, at least with other dragon species. They’re perfect for breeding because they often take on the habits of whatever group they join. They can even change their scent accordingly, in order to blend in thanks to their secondary dark typing. Allowing them in Galar led to an unprecedented increase in the dragon population at large.”

“Your plan worked, then.”

“It did,” Raihan said, a hint of pride in his tone that made Piers smile. “They’re a protected species now.”

“ _That_ , I did know,” Piers said, laughing. “Got arrested once for tryin’ to catch one because I didn’t know what the hell it was, just that it was a dark type I had never seen before.”

“What?” Raihan asked, looking over his shoulder, horrified.

“Don’t give me that look, I didn’t mean—”

“No, no, wait, not that, just I don’t—you got arrested for it?”

“Well yeah, it’s the law, innit?”

“But its dark typing falls under your expertise jurisdiction!”

“I wasn’t a gym leader yet when it happened. The exceptions clause didn’t apply to me. Wouldn’t have mattered anyways, I got arrested for all sorts of dumb shite even after it did. Rose liked makin’ my life difficult so I have more disturbance of the peace counts than probably anyone else in Galar.”

He could have kissed Raihan for the way the other hissed a curse at the former Chairman’s name.

“I bloody _hate_ him.”

“Preachin’ to the choir, love.”

Didn’t make it feel any less amazing, to have someone on his side like that.

/////

When they finally made it to their destination, it wasn’t at all what Piers was expecting. Dark types naturally gravitated to their namesake, and the lack of all but a single cave he could see five hundred meters or so off was strange.

Flygon’s Pokéball suddenly rattled before the ‘mon released itself, letting out a screech of excitement that startled them both and flying off towards the trees before they could do anything at all.

“What the actual—”

The answering screams of other dragons made him shiver, the eerie echo of it terrifying for all of a moment before a Haxorus came tearing out at full speed, bellowing at the top of its lungs until the two collided, rolling around in the dirt as they scrabbled and bit at each other affectionately.

“Oi, you two! Take it easy, will you?” Raihan’s shout was ignored as Haxorus tried to avoid Flygon’s immediate social preening instincts. Lucky for him, Flygon was quickly distracted by several heads poking out from the cave, and Piers watched, mouth agape, as both dragons scrambled to their feet to go greet the Hydreigon that emerged, butting each of the heads with their own. The three of them trilled and chittered at each other, Hydreigon dipping its heads in easy acceptance of Flygon’s eager claws, letting the other fuss and pick out leaves from under its hood scales and between its wings. Haxorus rubbed its shoulder along black and purple scales, adoration clear in its care.

The two of them were acting like…

“Are they—”

“Mates?” Raihan asked, and when Piers looked up, it was to find a few stray tears in his eyes. “Yeah. That Haxorus was mine originally, I trained him from an Axew. Took to Hydreigon almost immediately when she was first brought to the gym. They were practically inseparable, so when we released her into the wild, I knew Haxorus was going to want to go with her. That cave wasn’t there when I last saw them, though, which means they made it themselves for nesting. I wouldn’t be surprised if we find eggs or even hatchlings in there if they’ll let us see.”

Haxorus caught sight of them first, and Piers stepped back in alarm when Raihan put his head down and charged at it, yelling to match the way it shrieked and did the same. Piers had a quick moment to fear for every bone in Raihan’s body before Haxorus skidded to a stop just before the dragon trainer reached him, letting Raihan collide and hold tight before it put its forehead to his lightly, clearly knowing what Raihan’s skull could and couldn’t take. It wriggled excitedly, rough exhalations of sound that sounded so happy Piers couldn’t help but hide a grin behind a hand when it let itself be wrestled down for tummy rubs.

“Buddy you’re looking so handsome and healthy! Life up here been treating you well?” Raihan was cooing at him, and Flygon zoomed in figure eights over them both, caught up in all the chaos.

The Hydreigon hung back, swaying her heads back and forth so they could all see what was going on, clearly happy to see Raihan but intimidated by the display.

One of the heads turned, freezing a moment at the sight of something unexpected before it hyper-fixated on Piers. It started to crane towards him, stopping after a second in frustration while it waited for the other heads to notice. When they did, she started tilting them all again, slowly making her way over to him, pausing every few meters to reassess his threat levels. He sat down, keeping eye contact, letting her see he was willing to wait, and she trilled uncertainly.

“You’ve gotten used to somethin’ runnin’ at you for greetings, huh?” He asked, remembering what Raihan had said about them blending in. “Usually dark types hate bein’ rushed. M’not gonna do it though, sweetheart. No commonalities between shadows means you can have me as I am, or not at all.”

She dithered a while longer, and for a moment, Piers thought she might choose the latter option. It happened, sometimes, and it was no big deal. Creatures of the night didn’t always particularly want to associate with each other. Scientists were frequently baffled by how few similarities they all shared despite technically being in the same grouping.

And then, one of her heads let out an impatient, growling squeal and started urging them forward. He put out a hand when it got close enough, letting it nibble at his fingers before it mashed its face against them, chittering happily when he scratched under its chin.

The others immediately joined in, pushing each other away to clamber for their turn, delighted little noises in their throats when he brought his other hand up to help.

“You’re a pretty thing,” he said softly, rubbing his cheek along one of the heads that had settled onto his shoulder with a deep sigh. Rough and smooth in tandem, like the rest of it. His fingers brushed over nearly as much scar as scale. “Had a rough go of it, have you?”

“She did,” Raihan said a short ways away, watching them with something Piers couldn’t quite identify in his expression. “We didn’t even know if she would make it, at first. Gonna finally be able to rest on knowing she’s doing just fine out here.”

Haxorus came over, and despite their often-territorial nature, he seemed to have no problem plopping himself down to demand head scratches along with his mate.

“Pushy,” Piers said affectionately, giving Raihan a pointed look. “I can tell you trained him.”

“What can I say, he takes after his trainer. Knows what he wants.”

“Oh, is _that_ what it is?”

Raihan gave him an innocent, toothy grin.

/////

There _were_ eggs in the nest, as Raihan had predicted.

Five of them, more than usual he was told with more enthusiasm than Piers had seen from Raihan in a long time where work was concerned.

_“It’s not as fun anymore,” he’d admitted through tears, a night of drinking and laughter devolving into heartache as the evening wore on. “Without you there. Without Leon. Opal has already stepped down. Nessa has been thinking about moving on, too, and it just…I don’t know what to do with myself.”_

Watching him now, Piers wondered if Hop hadn’t had the right of it, going into research when battle failed to bring him the joy he’d been looking for. He could see Raihan doing this all the time. It was why he had brought up moving here, why he had wanted to prove that he could do this, too, without holding Raihan back if it was something he wanted.

“When will they hatch?” He asked, and the other gingerly put down the one he had been taking readings on, moving to the next. Hydreigon was heavy against the singer’s back, one of her heads resting on top of his and the other two on his shoulders, rumbling happily, pride evident at the way Raihan praised her future hatchlings.

“When they’re ready,” Raihan replied, eyebrow raised at whatever what on his scanner as he moved away from the nest. “If they’re Deinos, anyways. Axews have a regular schedule, usually around the seven week mark. But Deinos are a little different. Like Goomies, they wait for optimal conditions before hatching. The shell grows with time to stretch out resources, so scientists in other regions have found truly massive eggs before. Weirdly, they don’t seem to have any relation to the size of the actual Pokémon.”

“Do you have a guess as to which most of them will be?”

“I would, if these readings made any sense. None of the conditions for Axew or Deino are being met, except for on those two over there. But they’re all definitely viable eggs.”

“Could they be a different Pokémon? Do dragons ever steal other nests?”

Raihan frowned. “Not usually. Some will, usually the water or flying type dragons, but most are more likely to destroy a rival nest than raise it. And Haxorus are notoriously territorial when it comes to their mates. It’s why we haven’t seen almost any other Pokémon for a while. Rather unlikely she mated with anyone else. They would have to be exceptionally close for him to allow another dragon to—”

His eyes narrowed, and Piers watched as his head whipped around to watch Haxorus and Flygon working together to gently nudge the eggs back into place from where Raihan had moved them, affectionate sounds directed at the clutch as they tilted them this way and that to find the perfect arrangement.

“You absolute madlad!” He shouted, making Piers jump. “Is _this_ where you’ve been going?”

Flygon glanced up, his whole body wriggling excitedly as he hovered over the eggs, wings flapping rapidly while he leaned down and rubbed his face on the eggs, cooing at them.

“Arceus’ tits, mate!” Raihan groaned, putting his face in his hands. “No wonder the readings are off. They’re _Trapinch_.”

Piers raised a brow, watching the two dragons wave their arms wildly at each other and he couldn’t help the burst of laughter that escaped him. “You’re kiddin’ me!”

“Fuck, it all makes sense now! There are more eggs because each head gets a set of organs, including reproductive ones. If she had multiple partners, she would have no problem laying all of these!”

“Oh, this is absolute gold,” Piers cackled. “Hydreigon, you sly lass, you snagged yourself two boyfriends.”

“Flygon, you bastard,” Raihan moaned dramatically. “I _knew_ there was no way you were staying in Hammerlocke.”

“Are you slut shamin’ your ‘mon?”

“Yes!” Raihan wailed, sending Piers into hysterics over the absurdity of the situation. “And _you!_ ” He yelled, pointing at Haxorus, who looked utterly unbothered. “You _let_ him! Did you even think about the fact that Trapinch wouldn’t do well up here? Huh? Trapinch need sand! And dry heat! Planning on relocating to the fucking desert? No? Didn’t think so! You didn’t even think about what your mate wanted! You think she’ll be happy in the desert where it’s always hot and sunny? You two might be fine with it, but she’s going to be stuck inside a cave all day! Trapped, which was exactly what we were trying to _avoid_ , if you _fucking recall_!”

And that was…a much angrier response than Piers had originally assumed. He had found the whole thing hysterical, but Raihan had actual tears building at the corners of his eyes, teeth gritted in a way Piers had never seen outside a loss in Wyndon. The dragons even looked distressed and cowed by it, crowding close to each other and instinctually leaning over the eggs.

“Easy, Rai,” Piers soothed, trying to diffuse the tension. “Couldn’t we just bring them back with us? Your gym is perfect for that, all the environments they’d be wantin’ in one space. And you to monitor the hatchlings? Pretty ideal if you ask me.”

“She didn’t want that! I tried for weeks to catch her, but every time she refused. She wanted to be out here, and they just took that option away from her! I know I trained you two better than that. Your mate is supposed to come _first_. You don’t just make decisions for them because it’s what _you_ want! You _know_ that!”

A memory flashed through, lightning quick, and Piers took in a sharp breath.

_“I hung up your stuff in the closet so it doesn’t get wrinkled before you head home. Looks pretty nice, next to mine,” Raihan said, a cheeky grin on his face._

_“Isn’t the saying somethin’ about them lookin’ better on your floor?” The sarcasm had been evident._

_“Probably. I’m just saying if you ever feel like not paying rent on that shithole you call a flat, my clothes wouldn’t be quite so lonely anymore.”_

_He had bristled, not understanding._

_“That shithole holds up just fine. If I ever shack up with anyone, be a good mate and put me out of my misery, would you? Means I’ve gone fuckin’ mental if I ever get it in my head to start playin’ house.”_

He hadn’t known yet, that Raihan meant it. That it hadn’t been fooling around, or joking, or a comment on his lack of money. The notion had been absurd, at the time, that anyone would want him longer than a week or two, and he’d assumed they were both on the same page with that.

How long had Raihan been resigned to that being the final word? They had been together for years since then. Every year he hoped might be the one that Raihan asked him to stick around, and not once had he realized it was his own doing whenever he had a quick cry over having to renew the lease.

“Raihan, look at her,” he said quietly, and the other paused his rant, fire in his eyes when he turned to Piers that wasn’t doused by the moisture in them, already starting to trickle down now that they had been shaken loose.

Hydreigon was practically purring, not having moved once despite what was going on around her. Her energy was calm, likely used to a great deal of excitement and unphased by it.

“You can’t make a dark type do anythin’ it doesn’t want to do,” he said, reaching up so she could smoosh her face into his hand. “And I’m guessin’ that goes double for dragons. If she didn’t want this, I’m pretty sure she wouldn’t be feelin’ quite so pleased about the whole thing. She feels…”

And that was the heart of it, he supposed.

“She feels like Galar,” he said, trusting Raihan to know what he was getting at. “Galar doesn’t feel like this when the people are hurtin’. She isn’t upset, she’s _happy_ with the idea of going with you.”

“But when I tried—”

“Is she not allowed to change her mind?”

The question brought Raihan up short, and Piers bit his lip, looking away.

“Sometimes we say or do shite when we aren’t ready for somethin’, or are feelin’ backed into a corner, or a million other reasons. And sometimes that’s really how we feel forever about whatever it is, but…other times we change our minds yeah? Maybe she…maybe she was worried about losin’ herself or needed some space after she’d just gone through a major change in her life, gettin’ brought over here. Or maybe she wanted to see if her mates would stay with her. Would choose her over bein’ comfortable back home with you.”

He didn’t realize Raihan had come over to him until his hands were between Raihan’s own, each of them brought up to his lips and kissed gently. Hydreigon took her heads off him so Raihan could pull him close, burying his face in his hair.

“You’re not talking about Hydreigon, are you?”

_I’m talking about us. About how safe I feel with you. Safe enough for even this._

“Kind of like how you weren’t yellin’ at them, but at yourself?”

He didn’t answer, but he didn’t need to.

They stayed there, like that, for a long while.

Piers reached to his belt, where an empty dusk ball waited, unclipping it. He took the other’s hand in his, folding long finger around the cool metal.

“Ask and find out. Bet you the fee it’ll take to break my lease early that she says yes.”

And when the Pokéball only shook once before the sparks indicating a capture went off, Piers dragged Raihan down for a searing kiss while Haxorus and Flygon screeched and ran in circles around the ball that would carry their mate home with them.

“I love you so much,” Raihan choked out, kissing all over his face. “Please come live with me. I’ll pay that fee if you can’t, I want you in my flat as soon as we get back. Please, Piers.”

Piers laid his forehead against Raihan’s chest, rocking them back and forth once in mimicry of the Pokéball waiting for them a few feet away. He fluttered his fingers to indicate the sparks, grinning when Raihan immediately burst into tears, smothering the singer against his hoodie.

“Two dark types in one day,” Piers whispered, wiping away the happy tears streaming down Raihan’s cheeks as the other laughed through them. “Gotta be some kind of record or somethin’.”


	3. Till We Reach The End

The quiet was broken only by the occasional call of a creature far, far away, the mountain a lonely one with the dragons all safely tucked away in Pokéballs. Their eggs were also packed and ready to make the journey home in the morning. The need to stay here had been cut short, but it only meant more time with each other when they returned.

Not once had their eyes left the other since they had sat down to warm food, watching each other from across the way. The heat between them had nothing to do with the fire Piers had built for cooking, crackling and raising smoke and spark into the air.

It went unspoken what they wanted, didn’t need to be said aloud when Piers’ eyes traveled over him like that, assessing and deciding where he might want to begin, where he wanted things to go. Raihan shivered at the way he was already being devoured, already caressed and taken care of before a single touch had been exchanged. No one had ever cared so deeply about his pleasure before Piers. He was expected to enjoy things, and so he did. But with Piers, there was intention.

_“I’m not picky, you know,” he’d said once. “Just about anything does it for me.” He had wanted to be certain Piers knew he wouldn’t be a burden, or a bother. Nothing he needed to cater to, not when he was well-aware he could be emotionally clingy. Already a strike against him for one so independent of others._

_“Then let’s find the best of them,” Piers had replied, and Raihan had never been so meticulously explored._ Fuck, they had found things even _he_ didn’t know he liked, all because Piers loved it when they could take their time together.

Raihan’s spoon came up empty, and he suddenly realized he had finished. He had been too busy looking at Piers to notice. He put the bowl down, hands gripping the log he was sitting on while he waited. The other paused a moment, eyes darting down to the bowl before he took in the way Raihan stared, the tense line of him just waiting for permission. Eventually, his spoon continued the journey to his curry, blowing on it even slower than before, keeping his eyes on Raihan’s.

“Piers,” he whispered, his body betraying how eager he was to follow wherever the singer would lead.

They had needed to make camp. Needed some food and rest, but he’d been on the edge of his want for Piers all day and—

“After,” Piers said quietly. “Patience, love. Just a bit longer.”

He wanted, he wanted, he _wanted_ —

But he would wait.

“Okay.” Nothing but air on the sound, breath held to better wait out the time Piers would spend letting him anticipate.

The other smirked, taking another bite, and Raihan could have wept.

“You know, I think it’s bein’ out here that gets you riled up like this. Might be a problem if we end up buildin’ ourselves a little place up here, just the two of us.”

Raihan bit his lip, digging his fingers a little more firmly against the wood, letting the roughness of it scrape his palms up as the rocks had through their climb. Twice now Piers had brought up moving here, and the first still hadn’t sunken in. Nor had Piers’ agreement to come live with him in Hammerlocke.

“Why here?” He asked, keeping his voice hushed, not wanting to disturb the quiet.

Piers’ eyes were so soft, so gentle on him when he finally set his food aside and stood, coming over to kneel in front of him. His fingers slid up his ankle to lightly hold his calves, putting his cheek against a knee.

“This is the first time I’ve seen you happy in a long while.”

His first instinct was to deny it.

He smiled every day, all the time, every moment he was in the public eye. He never slipped, couldn’t falter, or they would know how conflicted and lost he was _. Keep going, keep moving, don’t think too long about it._

He forgot, sometimes, that it wouldn’t have mattered if he did that around Piers too. He had always been able to see right to the heart of him.

“Bein’ at that gym isn’t doin’ it for you anymore, is it?”

No. No it wasn’t. And it was more than that. So much more. It was the realization that he had no idea what he wanted to do. No clue where to go from here. He had never wanted anything else.

Leon hadn’t known how to be anything other than Champion, and he had watched as his friend floundered, uncertain how to help until a stray conversation had overturned a longing to teach. These days, Leon split his time between the Battle Tower and the University, finally at peace with himself.

If only Raihan could do the same with himself.

“No,” he finally admitted. Simple, plain. Everything the situation wasn’t. “No, it’s…I’m so tired. I never thought I’d hate it, but I really, really do. I don’t want to resent it, there are so many things I like about it, but it just…”

“I know,” Piers said, kissing his knee. “Been there, done that.”

“How did you do it? Just walk away like that?”

“I’m one of the lucky ones. Always had a sense for where I was goin’. I’m the sort to bide my time and wait for the moment it’s feasible. The second it is, I make a run for it, towards where I want to be.”

And what if the direction that made Raihan happy ended up the opposite of the person he loved?

“I don’t want to drag you around and make you run with me while I’m trying to figure myself out. You deserve better than that.”

“Do you think I’m not in this for the long haul?”

Raihan stilled, knowing he’d been caught out. He couldn’t quite meet Piers’ eyes.

“Rai,” Piers said, lacing their fingers together. “You’re kinda it for me, you know that yeah? I’m down for whatever you want to do, wherever you want to go. I can do my music wherever I am. And if I decide I want somethin’ different later on? It can be your turn to follow me. But right now, more than anythin’ I want you to be happy. To be wherever it is that thrills you and brings out your best. You don’t have to know where or what that is, yet, but let me help you look. You’re brilliant as fuck, you’ll figure it out. Just don’t go keepin’ on and bein’ all Galarian about it when it’s makin’ you miserable. Teamwork, right? Your favorite.”

Raihan laughed quietly, reaching down to tilt Piers’ face up for a kiss.

“ _You’re_ my favorite.”

“Mm, feelin’s mutual.”

The other slowly drew upwards, keeping contact, until he broke away to loom over Raihan for a moment. Everything in his being yearned to be closer, to let Piers chase off the doubts and shadows that had been plaguing him for weeks.

“Let me show you how much I mean it,” he said, voice low as he let his eyes wander. Raihan felt magnetized, under the influence of the way Piers never failed to make him feel seen. “Go wait for me in the tent. I’ll clean up here, and then I’m comin’ to claim my prize. I’ve made you wait long enough.”

/////

“Did you know the Horsea line—specifically Kingdras—mate for life, and only under the moonlight?” Raihan asked, voice uncharacteristically nervous, and Piers raised a brow, looking up from where he was three fingers deep with Raihan’s cock down his throat. He pulled off.

“I can’t decide if I should comment on your idea of dirty talk or question if that was meant to be a metaphor.”

Raihan tilted his head like neither thought had occurred to him. “I think it’s kind of romantic.”

“And here I thought you were about to say, ‘you’re the only Hor-I-Sea.’”

There was a moment in which the world might or might not have stopped turning completely before Raihan groaned and threw an arm over his eyes, making Piers cackle loudly at his dismay.

“Fucking hell. This is how Leon felt earlier, I just know it!” He moaned mournfully.

“Oh? Do tell, which one did you get him with?”

“Nunya,” Raihan mumbled, frowning when it just made Piers laugh even harder. “He walked right into it, it wasn’t my fault!”

“Then I’m pleadin’ intrusive thoughts on this one.”

“That was pre-meditated and you know it!”

“You’re the one who brought up Kingdras in the moonlight in the first place!”

“Because if you could see how you look with the moon at your back through the skylight, you’d bloody well comment too!”

Piers startled, looking up through the clear plastic covering at the top of their shelter, where the moon was high and climbing, looking for stars to accompany it through the night.

“Oh,” he murmured, staring up at it for a long while before he turned back to Raihan.

The dragon trainer sucked in a sharp breath at how intent he looked.

“You were…you were bein’ sweet,” he said softly, and he couldn’t hide the way his cheeks stained pink, not with the light directly above them both.

He suddenly found himself turned over, knees to either side of Piers. The movement made his own face heat up.

 _Stronger than he looks_ , he thought again, shaking his head. The singer stared up in wonder, and _fuck_ but he could feel the way his cock was leaking from the attention.

“Oh, you’re right,” Piers said reverently, running a hand down his chest, tracing the planes of his stomach with his fingertips. “Somethin’ ethereal about that.”

He trembled when Piers returned to his previous task, pushing three fingers deep into him, piercing him through with the heat he always felt whenever those hands were on him. He took the other from where it traveled along his arm, pinning it over Piers’ head and lacing their fingers together.

“Need you in me,” he begged, and was shushed for his efforts.

“In a minute, wanna look at you a while longer.”

Humor had always been his default method of coping when faced with something his heart was having a difficult time handling. He opened his mouth, uncertain of what kind of joke would spill out, before long fingers wrapped around his cock, netting the words before they could be spoken and turning them into a quiet moan.

“No,” Piers said, stroking him, making things slick and easy and _good_. “None of your deflectin’ tonight, okay? Just…just let me. I’ve missed you.”

Raihan choked back a sob, caught between the way Piers made his point by rubbing a fingertip against his prostate and the way he ran a thumb over the head of his cock, toying with the slit.

“It’ll be so nice, gettin’ to share a space with you when we get home,” he whispered, and Raihan leaned down to kiss his neck, to stifle all the words that would seek to undermine the moment in favor of feeling the way Piers’ voice felt against his lips. “Not havin’ to miss you quite so much.”

He kept himself still when Piers finally spread him open, nudging his cock against where Raihan wanted him most. His breath was unsteady and fast as Piers slowly started sliding into him.

“Oh fuck…” And had Raihan saved any air, he would have voiced his agreement. “Tight, so tight. Fuck, Rai, you’re—”

He started to withdraw, to give him time to adjust, and Raihan wasn’t having it. Could not and would not stand to have Piers any further away than he needed to be.

He leaned back hard, sheathing Piers in him, mouth open on a silent cry when it set him to shaking.

He didn’t pause, didn’t give himself a moment to think. He wanted to feel every bit of Piers in the morning, sore and wrung out and—

Raihan tangled his hands in a sea of black and white and didn’t stop from there.

He couldn’t, he _couldn’t_ , not when Piers moaned high in his throat and gripped his hips hard enough he was sure he’d have bruises, immediately finding Raihan’s frantic pace and matching the fervor of it. Every movement was answered in kind. He canted back and Piers thrust in. He pulled his hair and Piers raked nails down his back. He needed more and Piers was willing to go that much deeper.

Neither of them were quiet personalities, too large in one way or another for any space they existed in. Even here, nestled in the vast mountain that could swallow them whole, he could still roar at the edge of a cliff and the sound would carry far enough that he wouldn’t feel silenced.

But here, right now…

“I love you,” he said, and it was barely loud enough to exist in the air between them. No other sounds but ragged breathing and the quietest of whimpers, and yet it felt like it took up every bit of space. Louder than anything he had ever said before.

“Love you,” Piers answered, holding him close enough he could feel the thud of his pulse.

“Please, Piers—”

“What do you need?” And he knew he could ask for anything. Anything at all. Could ask for reassurance, or for him to say those words again. Could request they move out here tomorrow, or take another week or two or five away from the rest of the world because he would never have enough of this. Of just them, together. Nothing else but that.

“Come inside me,” he said instead, barely able to speak past the way Piers was grinding up against his prostate with every thrust, insistent and unyielding inside him. Over and over and over, half gone from the writhing, scrabbling heat of it low in his belly.

“My mate is supposed to come first, wasn’t that what you were sayin’ before?”

Oh _fuck_ , that was—

He let a breathy laugh escape, the sound pitching into a gasp when Piers used his legs to lock Raihan in place, dragging him down to exchange messy kisses while he rocked up hard, finally knocking the sounds loose from Raihan’s chest.

He rutted up against Piers’ stomach, slick and sweat and the softest of words as the singer brought him to the edge, letting him pace along it for a long while. He didn’t know how long he waited there, seeing how much he could withstand before it overtook him.

“Whenever you want, love,” Piers said at last, and the permission was more than enough for him.

Falling off the mountain into the ravines below wasn’t terrifying when it was the two of them.

Nothing but _yes_ and _Piers_ and _right there, oh fuck right there, please, please, pl_ —

He could hardly hear past the ringing in his ears, but there was no mistaking the _I love you_ on Piers’ lips when he stuffed himself in deep and came, Raihan’s name sweet and soothing in his ear. Each little shunt of his hips made Raihan twitch with pleasure, spill just a bit more, until he had nothing left.

Some kind of night bird called out in the stillness left behind, the only sound save for the wind.

He collapsed onto Piers, knowing he had a limited time before he became too heavy, both of them panting.

Piers was warm under him, and he settled closer, sighing contentedly when nails scratched lightly behind his ears, stroking against the soft, shaved parts of his hair. He moaned quietly and pressed further into the other’s arms.

The night air cooled them, both of them rocking together carefully every so often to prolong the endorphins coursing through their bodies. Raihan tried to struggle onto his elbows only once before Piers drew him back down.

“Stay like this a while. Yr’not too heavy. Feels good.”

He would stay right here as long as Piers would let him.

“That was…” There were so few words for this kind of feeling.

And he loved the bitten back smirk of satisfaction that his awed tone drew out.

“Mm, don’t make me smug about it.”

He snickered, kissing Piers on the corner of his mouth, letting himself get drawn in for a longer one. All of his kisses were for Piers, and he could have his fill of them.

“Be as smug as you like. Fuck, Piers, I needed that so much.”

“Quite literally my pleasure,” Piers said. “And me too. Love you so much.”

He would never, ever tire of hearing it.

“Hey, you gettin’ sleepy?”

Raihan tested himself, feeling throughout his body for any lethargy or desire to sleep. He found none, to his own surprise.

“No, actually.”

“Good. Cause, well…been thinkin’ bout how good you looked climbin’ for the both of us all day.” Piers bit his lip with a grin. “Feel like returnin’ the favor?”

_Always, anytime, and often._

Raihan mock-growled at him, “Only if I get to be smug about it, too.”

“Impress me, then.”

“On it!”

The mountain took the surprised shriek and their laughter into the rocks and the dirt and the bones of Galar. Another piece left behind to prepare them for whenever they decided to journey back. In its voiceless, nameless, timeless way, it hoped they would.

It would always have room in its heart for them, the ones who felt like home.

/////

_Epilogue_

A thousand scenarios, a thousand other lifetimes that might have played out.

But in this one, a home among the trees, years and years later, when it was time to rest. Galar hummed happily beneath where Piers slept in his arms, the both of them on a swing outside on the porch Raihan had insisted on.

A batch of Goomies were playing with Hydreigon’s newest hatchling, and Raihan buried his face in the softness of his beloved’s hair. He whispered his thanks, and though Piers wouldn’t emerge from his dreams for a while yet, the way he turned just a bit towards the sound of it was enough to make Raihan’s heart sing.

There was no need to climb anymore.


End file.
